Drive against smoking: Govt asked to increase size of pictorial warning on cigarette packs

NGO offers to withdraw court case against health ministry if demand met

ISLAMABAD: A non-governmental organisation campaigning against use of tobacco has asked the government to increase the size of pictorial warning to 85 per cent on cigarette packs.

On the eve of World No Tobacco Day, the Network offered Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSRC) to withdraw a court case if the ministry enforce its earlier decision of increasing the size of pictorial health warning and make a tangible progress to implement plain packaging.

For World No Tobacco Day – observed each year on May 31 - the World Health Organisation is calling on countries around the world to implement plain packaging of tobacco products and help end the deadly epidemic.

TheNetwork has taken the NHSRC to the Islamabad High Court for dilly-dallying on a January 2015 notification to raise the size of pictorial health warning to 85 per cent of the cigarette pack.

TheNetwork made this announcement during a picket outside the press club here that was participated by civil society activists, health rights promoters and political workers.

Chief executive of TheNetwork for Consumer Protection says that plain package of cigarette having a pictures of tobacco victims such as cancer patients, children affected by second-hand smoke, is the most effective mean of tobacco control advertisement. He regretted that the government spends nothing on preventive measures.

Plain packaging reduces the appeal of tobacco consumption and increases the noticeability of health warnings on tobacco packs.

It eliminates the use of colourful logos and branding on tobacco packaging, which serves as a key strategy used by the tobacco industry to make products more appealing to current and potential customers, including youth.

More and more countries around the world are implementing plain packaging including the United Kingdom (UK) and France which both implemented plain packaging earlier this month.

Nadeem stressed that Pakistan should also follow suit as different NHSRC surveys like Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) say that three out of every 10 current smokers thought of quitting smoking because of warning labels.

The most promising result is that of recently released STEPS which recorded that in Punjab and Sindh around eight out of every 10 noticed health warnings on cigarette packs, while around seven thought of quitting.

The NHSRC must resist the pressure from tobacco industry and cash upon these positive statistics and immediately implement Article 13 that comprehensively bans tobacco advertisement, promotion and sponsorship and Article 11 of Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which calls for plain packaging, argued Nadeem.

Taking cue from WHO Nadeem says: “If you strip back the decoration, gloss and misleading elements of tobacco packaging, you are left with little more than a box of deadly and addictive products that kills approximately 110,000 people a year in Pakistan and harms the health of many more. Plain packaging helps reveal the grim reality of tobacco products.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2016.